Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday, 21 June 2025 unveiled a sweeping set of announcements to embed yoga into the state's education system, marking the 12th International Yoga Day with a pledge to make yoga a sustained mass movement rather than a calendar event.

Yoga in school curriculum

The most immediate measure: yoga education will be formally introduced into the curriculum for students from Class III to Class IX starting from the next academic session. The initiative is designed to support the physical, mental, and emotional development of students and to build healthy habits from an early age.

To ensure implementation reaches every classroom, specialised training in yoga asanas will be imparted to all PTIs, DPEd teachers, PGTs, and designated PRTs across schools in the state. The government's intent is that no school is left without a trained instructor capable of guiding students through regular yoga practice.

Yoga in competitive examinations

In a move that signals institutional commitment beyond schools, Chief Minister Saini announced that questions related to yoga will become a mandatory component of all examinations conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) and the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC). Necessary amendments to the examination policy will be introduced to give effect to this provision.

This is a significant structural shift — embedding yoga literacy into the criteria for government employment effectively incentivises candidates across the state to engage with the discipline, regardless of their educational background.

New institute and university centres

A state-level Institute of Naturopathy and Yoga is to be established in Morni, Panchkula district, offering undergraduate-level courses in naturopathy and yoga. Additionally, yoga will be incorporated as a key component within the five centres of excellence being set up across various universities in the state, strengthening research, training, and innovation in the discipline at the higher education level.

Institutional renaming and sports policy

To give yoga formal academic standing, the Sports Departments of all higher education institutions in Haryana will be renamed as Departments of Sports and Yoga. Saini also announced that yogasana will be included as a recognised sports discipline under the state's sports policy, with necessary amendments to the policy to follow.

Taken together, the announcements represent one of the more comprehensive state-level frameworks for institutionalising yoga — spanning schools, teacher training, competitive exams, higher education, and sports policy — and will be closely watched by other states as a potential template.